“EU Inaction Breeds Contempt in a Dictatorship of Floggers”

The following article is from Kevin Myers at the Irish Independent. And it really does express a magnificent independence, a sense of moral outrage that one can be forgiven for thinking had all but disappeared from Europe, spent in the moral masturbation of attacking Israel and the US.

Among the more interesting aspects of the case, which the author raises, but whose implications he does not explore, is the fact that the girl in question got 90 lashes for being raped, and an additional 110 lashes for speaking to the press about it. There we touch on honor-shame issues; and we also touch on the enormous leverage the West has — if it would only use it — on the Muslim world.

There are some things — no, many things — which I do not understand in this world. But, what I find most incomprehensible of all is that the following story has not made world headlines. Without more ado, let me outline it.

An unnamed Saudi 19-year old woman — let us call her Fatima — has been sentenced to 200 lashes, after being gang-raped 14 times by a group of seven Sunni men in the town of Qatif. Not merely did they repeatedly rape her, but they also raped the male friend they found her with.

Her attackers received sentences of between 10 months and five years. The man she was found with in the car — we’ll call him Abdul– was sentenced to 90 lashes.

Why were Abdul and Fatima, both of them rape victims, sentenced to anything? Because they were alone in a car, and it is a criminal offence in Saudi Arabia for unrelated men and women to be in one another’s company.

This law represents the quintessence of sexual pathologies in Saudi Arabia. It embodies the pervasive fear that if two people who are not married are together alone in a car, they will engage in forbidden sexual behavior. No notion of self-restraint, no trust in the citizen — really the subject — to behave appropriately. Jealously — and envy — legislate.

So criminal, indeed, that even after being repeatedly raped, the two offenders were considered worthy of further punishment: 90 lashes each, which was increased to 200 lashes for Fatima after she had the temerity to appeal and to speak to the Saudi press about the horror which had befallen her.

There are many questions which result from this story. The first is the one I referred to in the opening paragraph: why is this is not a world-shattering headline?

Excellent question, and probably linked to the same forces that render British artists and political cartoonists, reknown for their iconoclastic assaults on all that is “holy” to become pussycats when it is a question of Islam. Intimidation. Britain, like so much of Europe and the rest of the West, has become a proto-Dhimmi state. This girl had the courage to speak to the press despite the pressure on her to shut up, but the press doesn’t have the courage to carry her words.

Of all the stories of abuse, torture and degradation which Islamic societies seem to specialise in, this is surely in a class of its own.

For you can call a 19-year-old a woman if you like, but to my mind, in any society, she is still a girl, and in the enclosed and repressive horror of Saudi Arabia, an utterly inexperienced one.

Rape is always an unspeakable crime, but it varies in extremes, and what happened to her and her friend is just about off the scale. To be sure, whether or not Fatima was a virgin is irrelevant; no amount of sexual experience in any way prepares a woman for such violation.

But in Saudi Arabia, there is this further consequence. Fatima is no longer marriageable: and in married life alone can a Saudi woman find a life.

And now she is to be flogged, 200 times. 200 times.

So let Fatima stand as the totem of one of the most evil countries in the world, one which is dominated by the insane Wahhabist sect; a land where children are taught to hate Jews and the West; where young men are so perverted by hatred that they can be sexually aroused sufficiently to rape a man and woman they find alone; a land which produced 18 of the 22 suicide bombers of 9/11; and which has spread a vast network of terror-cells across the world.

For the international Islamist threat has been intellectually fuelled by Saudi Arabia; as have, financially, the madrassahs across the world which promote jihad and suicide bombings.

Saudi feels contempt for us; and what does the West do, but placates, conciliates, permits: hence, the utterly ludicrous notion that at the London Olympics there should be a Muslim area, at the centre of which should be a 25,000-worshipper mosque.

So much for the Olympian spirit; but still, if the IOC ever introduces flogging, or gang-rape into the games, Saudi will be certain to get golds galore.

So, why do we and the EU have dull diplomatic relations with this dictatorship of floggers and rapists? Why did a government delegation meekly accept the sexual apartheid of a delegation of ministers to Saudi? Why do we accept their diseased, demented norms? Ah, goes the argument, because we have more leverage when we talk to them and accept their ways.

Rubbish. Utter rubbish. We want their oil and we want their markets, and the raped and violated teenage Fatima may be flogged by these savages with impunity, in order that we may retain our commercial links.

I’d take it a step further at least. We are afraid. They have contempt for us for good reason. The things they fear most about us — our freedoms, especially of speech — we “voluntarily” restrain for their sakes. Wouldn’t you have contempt for an enemy, much more powerful than you, who voluntarily sets aside his most effective weapons even as you declare war on him? As far as they’re concerned, the moral preening of the West — especially Europe — is a joke. We don’t have the courage of our own convictions. We are hypocrites.

And, if you wanted further proof — though God knows, none should now be necessary — that the EU is a hollow, meaningless vessel, the fact that Saudi Arabia feels free to flog anyone 200 times, never mind a rape victim, not only proves that this vile country doesn’t give a damn for the “core principles” of the EU, but it also knows that the EU will do nothing serious to defend those principles.

I heard a talk from an American rabbi who had participated in a “multi-faith dialogue” group at the highest diplomatic levels that took place in posh Monaco. The Saudi representative got up and began by insisting that Saudi Arabia respected freedom of religion… and no one laughed, no one challenged him, no one said, “Whom do you take us for… fools?” Indeed. He and his fellow Saudis do take us for fools, and that we most decidedly are.

There shouldn’t be a functioning embassy in Riyadh: Saudi airports should be lunar in their silence; oil-tankers should be immobilised in Jeddah; and the heathen barbarians running Saudi should remain in economic and diplomatic purdah, until they start conforming with civilised conduct, as is understood in Borneo, Peru, Greenland, China, India, Rwanda — indeed everywhere where Islamicists are not in power.

For, unless we stand up for Fatima now, we are mere whores, meekly waiting our turn to be buggered by the rapists of Riyadh.

This is a top-down solution, one that counts on the actions of governments who will be in serious trouble with their constituencies when the price of oil shoots through the roof. To be able to do this, we must break our addiction to oil.

But there’s something else we can do, much less expensive and, in some senses, much more effective.

Shame them. Write about this in our media. They gave that girl 110 additional lashes because, even more than sexual promiscuity, they fear publicity, they fear shame and humiliation.

Of course, for that, we need a MSM that has the courage to speak truth to vicious power. So far, they much prefer Bush and the Israelis. To ride the stallion of freedom, one needs civic courage. So far in this dramatic 21st century, our journalists, fearful of stallions but eager to mount their hobby-horses of anti-Zionism and anti-Americanism — have failed us miserably. Woe onto the free people whose journalists are cowards.

11 Responses to “EU Inaction Breeds Contempt in a Dictatorship of Floggers”

[…] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerpt The following article is from Kevin Myers at the Irish Independent. And it really does express a magnificent independence, a sense of moral outrage that one can be forgiven for thinking had all but disappeared from Europe, spent in the moral masturbation of attacking Israel and the US. Among the more interesting aspects of the case, which the author raises, but whose implications he does not explore, is the fact that the girl in question got 90 lashes for being raped, and an additional 110 las […]

[…] 86400 wrote an interesting post today!.Here’s a quick excerpt The following article is from Kevin Myers at the Irish Independent. And it really does express a magnificent independence, a sense of moral outrage that one can be forgiven for thinking had all but disappeared from Europe, spent in the moral masturbation of attacking Israel and the US. Among the more interesting aspects of the case, which the author raises, but whose implications he does not explore, is the fact that the girl in question got 90 lashes for being raped, and an additional 110 las […]

here’s more proof that walt-mearsheimer were lying when they claimed that Israel controlled US policy in the Middle East. It’s obvious from this event and many others that Saudi Arabia has much more power over US policy than Israel does. Let’s go farther: to whom is the Bush family closer, the Israeli leadership [such as it is these days] or the Saudi royal family???

Are people aware that jim Baker’s law firm, Baker Botts LLP, represents Saudi interests in the United States??

“It’s obvious from this event and many others that Saudi Arabia has much more power over US policy than Israel does.” – Eliyahu

And over British policy too. Shady deals done, fraud and illegalities investigated, investigations dropped on the insistence of the government. Must not upset the Saudis.

I do sometimes wonder, if the Saudi government stance on Israel were even more hard-line, would the UK dare to stand with the US and veto calls for an Israeli ceasefire against Hezbollah? That said, such obstinacy cost Blair virtually nothing in the dying days of his premiership.

Either we’re afraid, which is why we appease them; or we’re not and will shame them. But we can’t be afraid and yet shame them, unless you believe that when we shame them they will respect us and civilize themselves. I don’t think so, because if they do that they commit suicide.

The dependence of the west on oil is thorough and acute to the point where our civilization can collapse from any serious disruption, particularly the US. James Kunstler has been writing about and provided references to forecasts of what can be expected and it’s pretty scary. Technology is not likely to save us, at least not in the necessary time, and we have not even begun to do anything about it; in fact we’ve even destroyed options that could have helped, like public rail systems.

That is really what scares the west shitless and why governments and elites don’t allow themselves to even think, let alone talk or do something about it.

That’s why scapegoating the jews and israel is so convenient. It is much easier to blame them than to address problems of monumental difficultie and commit political suicide.

When they bash israel and the jews, it’s not because of any concern about victims, but simply to avoid dealing with a scary reality.

Michael N, I remember the story about the British military aircraft manufacturer that gave kickbacks to the Saudi ambassador to Washington, who probably was rich enough already. There was in investigation of the illegal kickback, and then Tony quashed the investigation. Has he no shame? And how did the Laborite press, how did the Guardian, independent, and other pro-Labor papers react to that quashing?

Now, as to last summer’s war with the Hizbullah. In that case, Hizbullah was supported by and working for Iran, a great Shi`ite enemy of the Sunni Saudis. So maybe the Saudis were not so eager to protect Hizbullah.

Either we’re afraid, which is why we appease them; or we’re not and will shame them. But we can’t be afraid and yet shame them, unless you believe that when we shame them they will respect us and civilize themselves. I don’t think so, because if they do that they commit suicide.

The “we” here is multiple, not single. our journalists can shame them just by reporting this stuff — or, for example, publishing en masse the muhammad cartoons. it doesn’t have to be a govt policy, and if enough journalists and papers run this material, there’s not a whole lot that “they” can do. and yes, i do think that if we shame them they will respect us. they are deeply fearful people, which is why they traffic so much in fear. bullies are, at heart, cowards.

The dependence of the west on oil is thorough and acute to the point where our civilization can collapse from any serious disruption, particularly the US. James Kunstler has been writing about and provided references to forecasts of what can be expected and it’s pretty scary. Technology is not likely to save us, at least not in the necessary time, and we have not even begun to do anything about it; in fact we’ve even destroyed options that could have helped, like public rail systems.

when the history of the last generation is written, the failure of the west to wean itself from oil starting in 1973 will stand out as one of the great failures of imagination and courage.

That is really what scares the west shitless and why governments and elites don’t allow themselves to even think, let alone talk or do something about it.

That’s why scapegoating the jews and israel is so convenient. It is much easier to blame them than to address problems of monumental difficulty and commit political suicide.

When they bash israel and the jews, it’s not because of any concern about victims, but simply to avoid dealing with a scary reality.

let’s say this is true (or even partially true). is there anything that can be done about it? after all, that’s a recipe for suicide. a manhatten project for clean and decentralized energy?

Eliyahu, too true: naturally, there was scarcely a squeak from the newspapers, let alone the BBC. When it comes to an “illegal war” and the machinations over dodgy dossiers and weapons experts committing suicide in curious circumstances, the press are like terriers digging for the freshest, juiciest bones. But when it comes to business links with the Saudis, our media are suddenly dazed, stupefied by the impenetrable fog of the international military-industrial complex, and by issues above their understanding or remit. How convenient.

In a weird way, we need a kind of Michael Moore here. (A Michael Moore who loathes the Saudis for what THEY represent and what they do, rather than just using them as a stick with which to hit the Bush regime.)

As to the tensions between the likes of Saudi Arabia and Iran, you are right, but I simply don’t think we can afford to rely on such local rivalries in our long-term calculations; RL and others have ably documented how those sunni-shia divisions that too many westerners believe might do our work for us, can shift like the sand and leave us looking even more foolish than we already do. Yes, Iran and Saudi Arabia might have little in common right now, but the dynamics of regional shame-honour which in 1967 allowed Syria to goad Egypt into war, and in turn allowed Egypt to bully Jordan into the conflict, have not changed sufficiently to allow us to rely on such assumptions.

RL>The “we” here is multiple, not single. our journalists can shame them just by reporting this stuff — or, for example, publishing en masse the muhammad cartoons. it doesn’t have to be a govt policy, and if enough journalists and papers run this material, there’s not a whole lot that “they” can do. and yes, i do think that if we shame them they will respect us. they are deeply fearful people, which is why they traffic so much in fear. bullies are, at heart, cowards.

They sure can, but they don’t and won’t. If they are afraid like the rest of society, why should they?
Bullies may well be cowards, but appeasers are even more cowards who succumb to them.

RL>when the history of the last generation is written, the failure of the west to wean itself from oil starting in 1973 will stand out as one of the great failures of imagination and courage.

true, but there is a good reason for it: the american way of life is founded on oil and it would have to go away. it is hard to do and it takes a long time; in the meantime the whole nature of the society must change with huge dislocations, disruptions, redistribution of power and acute social strife. not to mention the ensuing weakness which can be exploited by enemies.

Look at today’s presidential candidates and how disconnected from reality they are.

RL>let’s say this is true (or even partially true). is there anything that can be done about it? after all, that’s a recipe for suicide. a manhatten project for clean and decentralized energy?

lots of things can be done. the problem is that they are and will not be done. the west is dying and it does not seem to care much.lok at europe: politicians are openly talking of giving their countries away to islamists, hoping that they will “play nice” with them.